The New Yorker: Science & Technology.

"Bill McKibben on Jimmy Carter's Green-Energy Legacy."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 04 January 2025, 1518 UTC.

Content and Source:  Email subscription from "The New Yorker:  Science & Technology."

 https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzQZSXzsjkSzqgQmgfpKCHdnHXfq

Please scroll down to read your selections.  Thanks for joining us today.

Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

View in browser | Update your preferences

In today’s newsletter, what could have been, and then: • The brilliance of bird brains • Escaping the Spotify syndrome • Why your name matters

Jimmy Carter, Green-Energy Visionary

As President, he told us that we needed to shift to solar power. We should have listened to him then. By Bill McKibben Photograph by Harvey Georges / AP On June 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter—sporting a bushy haircut and a wide necktie—invited dignitaries and reporters onto the roof of the White House to watch the installation of thirty-two solar water-heating panels. “A generation from now,” he told them, “this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.” A generation later, one of those panels showed up in a private museum in the offices of an entrepreneur named Huang Ming, in the city of Dezhou, China. In the spring of 2010, I interviewed Ming, who was building a vast fortune by installing pretty much the same solar water heaters across the country. If you’re flying into a Chinese city, look down and you might see one of the devices on every other roof. Keep reading If you know someone who would enjoy Science & Technology, please share it. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up.

Editor’s Picks

Elements

The Elephantine Memories of Food-Caching Birds

Some animals can remember where they’ve buried hundreds of thousands of seeds. Why can’t we remember where we’ve put our eyeglasses? By Matthew Hutson Books

Is There Any Escape from the Spotify Syndrome?

The history of recorded music is now at our fingertips. But the streamer’s algorithmic skill at giving us what we like may keep us from what we’ll love. By Hua Hsu

From the Archive

Annals of Technology

Why Your Name Matters

From 2013: Two Harvard professors surmised, in 1948, that a rare name had a negative psychological effect on its bearer. Were they right? By Maria Konnikova Cartoon by Paul Noth P.S. The Quadrantids, the first meteor shower of 2025, is forecast to be among the year’s most vivid. Fireball activity peaked last night, and should continue for another two weeks—so keep your eyes on the skies. This shower is caused by debris from an asteroid, but, as Raffi Khatchadourian reports, there’s plenty of other dangerous debris up there, too. ☄️

Thanks for reading.

Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the Science & Technology newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2025. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.